Saturday, February 20, 2016

Ramona: 6 Months!






Ramona: 6 Months!

It's hard and not hard all at the same time, to believe Ramona's been with us half a year already! What a joy she is!! Such a lovely, mild tempered, happy baby she is. A great night sleeper, loves Rory and I, the dogs, socializing with other kids, babbles all the time! This has been a very tough month, changes in sleep. Although it's been rough, we've survived! I hold Ramona ever so close now a days, the weight of her growing so quickly has really sunk down deep in my heart. Rocking her before her naps, signing to her " Jesus loves me", brings tears to my eyes, knowing how fleeting these times really are. My first baby, isn't going to be a baby much longer. The days are long, but the months are short. Can I get an "amen!" 



growth:

this month I've noticed her growth the most, she just seems so big to me! With her legs hanging off the nursing pillow, and taking up a lot of her crib, to her chubby cheeks and rounding belly, I love seeing her grow! We have her 6 month checkup on Monday and I'm so excited to see how much she's grown!






likes: 

when Rory tosses her up in the air/ riding on his shoulders.

music.

socializing.

watching other babies/ children.

when i sing to her ( I sing Jesus Loves Me & Twinkle twinkle before every nap).

eating solids!

drinking water from my cup.


dislikes:

waiting for food ( both breast and bites of food)



firsts:

First time eating solids ( Butternut squash: still her favorite).

We introduced her to avocado, bananas, apples, & sweet potato.

Ramona bit me, while nursing, I looked up solutions and found out, they're most likely teething and not bitting out of frustration or anger, so you simply unlatch them and offer a teething toy or your knuckle, it ended as quickly as it started once I offered her my knuckle.

first Sunday in the nursery for the entire church service.  

first airplane rides to and from Oregon!

first time I've left her at the daycare at the gym. 




health:

 :-( The poor baby had a rough cough. She was sick for about 7 days. We gave her lots of fluids, and she slept a lot, we also put a humidifier in her room and propped up her mattress on one end so the snot would drain better while she slept. She never had a fever & her appetite was the same, so we decided against taking her to the doctor. We did however call the advice nurse and she reassured me we were doing all we could for her and that the cold would pass within a week. It was the hardest week I've had in a very long time. I too had the same illness and was absolutely exhausted. Thankfully we were sick at the same time and slept a LOT.

We still bathe her every 3 days.

Still using cloth diapers.



sleep:

This month has been very abnormal as far as sleep goes! A ROUGH month all around :( Ramona woke throughout the night for about a week, and then the following week would wake up around 4am and not go back down till she was fed. It was a very tough time. She has been getting a tad bit better with napping. What seems to be the norm as of now, is a 6am wake-up, nap at 9am, 1pm and 4pm. Bedtime is usually around 7pm. 


eating:

Nursing is getting better, less frustrating, thankfully all of our frustrations seem to be a phase that has passed. I've started to take fengugreek supplements and eating oatmeal with brown sugar, to up my supply, as I felt it was very low at night and Ramona would get overly frustrated right before bedtime. Recently we've been giving her a bottle of formula or solids before bedtime to hopefully stretch her sleep length. 


playing:

Play is such a huge part of our day, now that Ramona is older and more interactive. Books are a large part of play for us. I read to Ramona throughout the day. I have a high value for books, and her imagination, and the importance of those things. I think they're VITAL. Recently Ramona has been " Picking" out what she wants to read. It's the sweetest thing!! I sit her on my lap with our basket of books, and I'll pick and start reading a book and if she doesn't want to read that specific book, she'll fuss for a moment and lean forward toward the basket of books, so I pick her up and let her lean in and pick which book she wants. SO STINKIN SWEET.